...and in the beginning, there were the marauders

Chapter Two: The Apple-Scented Fairy

Mippy was uncharacteristically quiet on the day of James' departure for Hogwarts. She served him breakfast without so much as a good morning, only letting out a wail when James mentioned his leaving. James spent most of the morning in his room, trying to avoid upsetting her more.

But now, here they stood, at Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. All around him, James could see other wizarding children of all ages and their parents. He was ecstatic. Of course, he felt some guilt, for Mippy was so upset. But how could he be unhappy at a time like this?

"Well," Mippy finally said, trying to hold back tears, "I guess this is it. My little Jamesy is goin' off to school. I can remember when you were just a little baby..."

The tears finally came. Plenty of them. Mippy scooped James into a bear hug and started bawling. James tried to comfort her by patting her on the back, but was rather unsuccessful. A few people turned to stare at her and James became a little embarrassed.

She finally let him go, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Well, you should get on the train now, I suppose." She said. "Don't want to miss it."

"No."

Pause.

"I'll write, Mippy. I promise."

"Of course you will. Alright then. Go on, get on your train before I start up again."

"Goodbye, Mippy," said James, turning to the train. He turned to wave to her before he climbed the stairs to the train.

"She your mom?" A voice behind him asked. James turned to see a dark-haired boy around his age and height standing behind him. The train started moving with a jerk. The two boys put their arms out and pressed their palms against the walls to balance themselves.

"Oh, um, no, that's Mippy. She's my guardian."

"No parents?"

"Um, no. My mum's dead and I don't know my dad," James replied, slightly shocked that the boy was asking such personal questions.

"Ah. Too bad. My mum's dead too. It's just me and my dad," the boy said. He held out his hand. "Sirius Black. First year."

"James Potter. I'm a first year too."

"James!"

The two boys turned to look down the corridor, where the voice was coming from. James recognized the boy coming towards them as Remus Lupin. James noticed that he looked substantially healthier.

"All the compartments back there are full," he said. "No use in going you going back." Noticing the boy standing with James, he added, extending his hand, "Remus Lupin. Pleased to meet you."

"Sirius Black," Sirius replied, shaking his hand. "You a first year too?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's try to find a compartment."

Sirius stuck his head into the compartment behind them. "You mind if the three of us sit in here?" he called into it.

"Not at all," a small voice replied. Remus and James looked at each other and shrugged.

The three boys entered the compartment, which was empty, except for one girl. She was the tiniest thing James had ever seen. She reminded him of a fairy. Her feet didn't quite reach the floor, and she was rail-thin. Red hair spilled down her back. When she turned to look at them, James saw that she had pale, milky skin and large, beautiful green eyes.

"Hello, there," Sirius said. "Who might you be?"

"Lily Evans," the girl responded.

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Sirius-"

"Black. I know. I could hear you talking in the hall."

"Ah, eavesdropping, huh?"

"Well, you weren't exactly whispering."

"You have a point."

Remus and Sirius took the two seats facing Lily, and James sat down next to her. Lily was looking out the window, fascinated.

"First year?" James asked.

"Yes," she replied, looking at him with those eyes. She really did have nice eyes...

"Same for all of us," said Remus.

"I'm starved," Sirius said.

"They should send a cart around soon," James told him.

"Aw, why wait?" He pulled his small schoolbag out from under his seat. After undoing the clasp, he turned it upside down, and out rained a flood of candy.

"Where did you get all that?"

"Dad'd kill me if he knew I had all this."

"How did you afford it?"

"Didn't you bring any books?"

The last speaker, Lily earned herself blank stares from her three male companions.

"We're just going to pretend that you didn't say that, alright?" said Sirius. "We'll get along better. Here, have a chocolate frog."

He tossed her a red package. She looked at it curiously for a moment before opening the triangular lid. A small brown blob hopped out. Lily screamed.

James threw his hand down over the frog before it could get very far. "Relax, it's not a real frog," he said, trying to comfort Lily, who was at the opposite end of the small compartment, trying to get away from the frog. She was practically in Remus' lap.

"Sorry," Sirius said. "Dad was showing me how to charm them. Guess I forgot to take that one out of my supply. Here, you can have the card."

Lily looked down at the trading card. "Why is he moving?"

"I take it you didn't grow up in the wizarding word, eh?" Remus asked.

Lily blushed. "No. This all new for me."

"Well, well well. A Muggle on her way to Hogwarts," said an alien voice.

All four of them turned to see who had entered the compartment. A boy who appeared to be a few years older than the rest of them was standing there, arms crossed. He looked almost transparent; his hair was so blond it was almost white, his irises were almost colorless, and his skin so pale it almost glowed. He had a smirk on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Get lost, Malfoy," Sirius said.

"Why, how very nice to see you again, as well, Mr. Black," they boy replied sarcastically.

"Just leave."

"Ah, don't want me around her? Afraid the filth will like me better? Don't worry, I'm sure she can't have good enough taste. Of course maybe you'll do us all a favor and scare her off. You do have that way with people."

Lily began to fume. She crossed her arms and walked over to him, looking him straight in the eye. "I deserve to be here just as much as you do."

He laughed. "You can't even begin to compare you and your kind to me. You don't belong. Do you know why? Blood. That's all that matters. I have it and you don't."

Lily, tiny little Lily, looked as if she were about to attack him. James stood up and pulled her back. At the same time, Sirius stood up, pushed the boy out of the compartment, closed the door, and locked it.

"Who was that?" asked Remus.

"Lucius Malfoy," replied Sirius, who was staring at the door as if Malfoy were still standing there. "I've met him before. His dad's deep in with the dark arts. Have to keep your eye on that one."

James realized that he was still holding Lily against him. Her head barely scraped the bottom of his chin. She smelled clean and of apples. At some point, he had laced his arm around her tiny waist. She was still breathing hard. He was thankful her back was to him and she couldn't see his face, as he was beginning to blush.

Slowly and reluctantly, he unwound his arm from her waist. She walked back to her seat and re-crossed her arms, obviously still angry at Lucius. She looked at him, and for a moment, her face softened and she smiled at him.

They were quiet for a moment. Lily took out a brown paper bag and removed a plastic spoon and a container of strawberry yogurt. The three boys started in on the candy again.

"Do any of you plan on eating anything wholesome today?" asked Lily.

"What's wrong with candy?" asked Sirius defensively.

"Nothing. But you have to eat something else today. You'll get a stomach ache from all that."

"You sound like somebody's mother."

"Well, I'm sorry for showing concern. It'll never happen again."

"Will the two of you be quiet?" Remus interjected.

"Fine."

"Fine."

James could tell that Lily was still upset about what Lucius had said. She spent more time stirring her yogurt than eating it.

Someone tried to open the door. Finding it locked, they began to pound on it.

"Open up in there!" a voice called.

Remus stood up and unlocked the door. The second he did, a tall boy with glasses and brown hair stormed in. On his robes, he wore a gold badge with the word 'Prefect' engraved upon it.

"Why was this door locked?" the older boy demanded.

"Lucius Malfoy." Sirius replied.

"What?"

"Never mind."

The boy seemed to loose all interest. He continued on. "Well. The train will reach Hogwarts within the hour. I suggest that you all change into your robes." He looked at Lily. "You need to leave. You can't possibly change in front of young men."

"I wasn't planning on it," she replied, obviously mildly annoyed.

"All the other compartments are full. You won't have a seat. But you can change in compartment five; there are only girls in there."

He turned and left.

"Well, I should be off then," said Lily. She removed her schoolbag and a small stack of books from under her seat. "I suppose I'll see you when we arrive."

"Grand meeting you, Lils," Sirius said with a wide single wave.

James watched her as she left. He found himself staring at the door after she closed it. He shook his head and snapped out of it. What was wrong with him?

Sirius was grinning. "You have a thing for her, don't you?"

James' jaw dropped. "Of course not! I just met her!"

"All right, you thought she was attractive."

"No! You're imagining things."

"No, he isn't, James," Remus said. He was grinning also, but his grin was more sympathetic and less obnoxious. "I could see it too. The look on your face..."

"Just stop it!"

"Fine," Sirius said. "I liked her though. Not a bad tongue, for a girl. We could get along."

"You sure didn't act like it," James said.

"Aw, I was just testing her. Seeing if she could take it."

James and Remus rolled their eyes.

The three of them changed into their robes and started eating candy again. The prefect's announcement of their imminent arrival appeared to be a little premature...

The train stopped.

***

It was almost dark when James, Remus, and Sirius stepped off the train. It had cooled considerably in the last few hours. A mass of people were moving to their left; they were about to follow the crowd when they heard a booming voice...

"FIRS' YEARS!" it called. "FIRS' YEARS OVER HERE!"

Looking to their right, they saw a huge man standing amongst a small crowd of children, who must have been the first off the train. A thick, bushy beard covered most of the man's face. His hair was long and thick.

Fighting against the crowd, the three boys made it to him and joined the small crowd of students. James saw Lily standing with three other girls not too far off, talking to the gigantic man. One of the girls, who had glasses and mousy hair, looked as though she were about to cry.

"Suppose that's all a ya," the huge man said. "'IS WAY, EVREYBODY! FOLLOW ME!"

He led them down a dark, narrow path. It so was so steep that walking was incredibly difficult. Huge trees on either side blocked out all the light, making it difficult to see.

Suddenly, after a bend, the path opened up onto a large black lake. They all gasped. Across the lake, upon a mountain, sat Hogwarts. The lighted windows stuck out against the night sky. The castle itself was huge, with multiple towers and turrets.

"No more than four to a boat, now," their leader instructed, motioning to the small fleet of boast at the water's edge.

James, Sirius, and Remus climbed into a boat. All of a sudden, they heard something moving in the woods behind them. They froze.

But it turned out to be another student, trying to run down the path. "Wait!" he called out. "Wait for me!"

James suddenly recognized him. "Peter!" he called. "Over here! Hurry!"

Peter Pettigrew looked relieved. He jogged over to the boat and tried to get in. He ended up falling into it instead.

"Oh, I was so worried!" Peter exclaimed, still trying to catch his breath. "I got seperated - couldn't find- you all - thought I would be left - left behind-"

"Well, you didn't, so everything's OK," James assured him, before hastily introducing him to Remus and Sirius.

"FORWARD!" they heard the large man call, and all the tiny boats began to move across the lake.

The water was incredibly smooth. All the first-years remained silent, except for Peter, who was still panting, and stared in awe of the castle in front of them. As they approached the cliff which it sat, they noticed an ivy curtain that hid an opening in the cliff face.

"Heads down!"

After the boats came to a stop, they all clamored out of the boats and followed the man up a flight of stairs to the castle entrance. Three huge knocks echoed through the passageway.

The door opened at once, revealing a stern-looking witch dressed in green robes, her dark hair pulled up in a tight bun.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

***

For the rest of his life he would be able to remember the exact second when he saw her for the first time, running to that stool to try that ratty old hat on. And he would always remember that feeling when she was placed in his house, that feeling of premonition and happiness...

They had been herded into a small chamber. They were all in closer proximity to each other than most would have preferred, but by now, they were all too nervous to care.

"How do they sort us?"

"I heard we had to wrestle a troll."

"No, you slay a dragon."

"You're both wrong, you cast spells."

James looked to his right and saw Lily. What little color had been in her face originally had now drained out completely.

"Nervous?" he asked.

"Little."

Remus also looked as though he anticipated facing doom. When Lily grabbed his hand for support, he held onto it tightly. James wasn't exactly sure if he did it for her benefit or his.

Sirius, on the other hand, looked cool, calm, and collected. He made James sick.

Professor McGonagall reentered the room. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep on your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will loose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few moments in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as possible."

The students tried their best to smooth out wrinkles in their robes and straighten their hair. Professor McGonagall sighed.

"Well, come along then. In a line."

James stood with Sirius in front of him and Remus behind him. Lily had finally managed to let go of Remus' hand, and actually looked composed. She stood behind Peter and was whispering something to an auburn-haired girl, one of the girls he had seen with her earlier.

Professor McGonagall led them across the entrance hall and to the huge double doors the hid the Great Hall. When the doors swung open, they all gasped.

The hall was huge. Four long tables ran the length of it, each set with plates and goblets of gold. At the end of the hall, their was a set of stone steps that led up to a landing, where there was another table, apparently for teachers. Professor McGonagall led the aisle and up the stairs.

The first-years now stood in a group in front of the school. They watched as the professor carefully placed a four-legged stool in front of them. She then placed a shabby-looking wizard's hat on top of it. And, low and behold, it started signing. About each of the houses.

Lily obviously wasn't impressed.

"Why couldn't they just have everyone read Hogwarts, a History?" she whispered. "Then we wouldn't have to listen to all this."

After the hat finished singing, Professor McGonagall, who was now holding a scroll of parchment, said, "Please come forward to try on the Sorting Hat when I call your name."

"I still think we should have to fight a lion," someone from the crowd whispered.

"Adams, Arwen!"

A girl with black hair that seemed to wave and curl at the same time stepped forward, sat down, and placed the hat on her head. She was one of the girls Lily had been with earlier.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat bellowed. Cheers went up from the table on the far left.

'Averwater, Aria' became the first Ravenclaw, Sirius went to Gryffindor. 'Blaine, Elizabeth' was Slytherin's first new addition. James stopped paying attention until:

"Evans, Lily!"

Lily raced forward, apparently completely cured of her earlier case of the jitters, and took her place on the stool. After only a second: "GRYFFINDOR!"

She sat down next to Sirius, who must have said something funny, because she immediately started laughing. After 'Leighthold, Constance' became a Hufflepuff, Remus' name was called.

It paused for almost a minute. But finally it called: "GRYFFINDOR!"

Minutes later, after the nervous-looking girl James had seen Lily with earlier ('Owens, Ellie') became a Hufflepuff, Peter was also announced as a Gryffindor. He looked relieved. Then-

"Potter, James!"

He stepped forward and took his place on the stool. He placed the hat on his head. It started whispering in his ear.

Interesting, interesting. So brave, so smart. You could be great one day. So much like your parents. So, that makes you a GRYFFINDOR!"

James was slightly shocked by the reference to his parents, but was none the less excited to be in the same house as all his friends. He tried to look excited and ran to the table.

The Sorting continued. 'Winter, Daphne,' Lily's auburn-haired friend was made Gryffindor. A confident-looking Asian girl ('Yang, Rebecca') was placed in Ravenclaw. After 'Zymon, Adela' was sorted into Hufflepuff, everyone in the Hall applauded.

A silver-haired wizard at the teacher's table stood up. Everyone fell silent.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster here at Hogwarts," he said. "I welcome back all our returning students and would like to personally welcome all our first-years. Before we eat, I would like to caution everyone from going too close to the newly-planted Whomping Willow. Also, everyone is reminded that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits and no magic is allowed in the hallways between classes. Thank you. Now, let's eat!"

As Dumbledore sat down, hundreds of plates appeared on the long tables. Meats, cheeses, vegetables, and bread, it seemed as though every food imaginable was there. James helped himself to some carrots.

"Better than that yogurt of yours, eh, Lily?" Sirius joked as he placed roast chicken on his plate.

"Better than all that candy, I'd say," she replied. "Now stop hogging all the chicken."

James looked up at the teachers table. He scanned the table until he saw a dark-haired man, who, unless James were imagining things, was staring at him.

The teacher looked away when James saw him. James shook his head and told himself that it was only his imagination. But when the annoying prefect from the train, who, unluckily, seemed to be a Gryffindor, walked past him, he tugged his robe sleeve.

"What is it?" he demanded irately.

"Who is that professor, the one four seats down from Dumbledore, on our side?" James asked.

The prefect looked up at the teachers' table. "Oh," he said. "That's Professor Cartwright. Defense Against the Dark Arts. Bid mad."

"Mad?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, he's absolutely brilliant, but no one really knows why he's here."

"What do you mean?'

The prefect lowered his voice leaned in a little closer to James. "Well, right after he graduated Hogwarts, he went abroad and did all this research. It's brilliant, all been published. He could live a very comfortable lifestyle just on the royalties, if he really didn't want to do field work anymore. But he's working here. Been here eight years or so, I think. Something must have happened to him. But nobody knows what. Except maybe Dumbledore."

He resumed his normal stiff posture and walked off.

The hours passed, with everyone laughing and eating their fill. Eventually the teachers stood up and left, and the prefects began to herd their houses back to the dormitories. However, James saw Lily run off in the direction of the Slytherin table.

He walked out of the Great Hall with Remus, Sirius and Peter. Lily was walking in front of them, talking to someone none of them recognized.

"Hey, Lils, aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" Sirius asked as he stepped beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. He suddenly stopped walking.

James, Remus, and Peter stopped to see what was going on. Standing next to Lily was a tall boy, almost as tall as James. His hair was dark and greasy, and slightly too long for a boy. His skin was sallow and his eyes were dark.

"I believe I've already had the pleasure, Mr. Black," the boys said coldly, glaring at Sirius.

"Get lost, Snape," Sirius retorted. "Come on, Lily."

He had the advantage of being larger and stronger than Lily, and he was able to yank her forward without her resisting. Remus, James, and Peter hurried after him.

"Have you lost your mind, Lily?" Sirius hissed at Lily. "Do you know who that was?"

"Severus Snape," she replied. "And I can't believe you did that. He's very polite. He showed me how to get onto the platform this morning. Of course, I think it upset his father, although I don't see why-"

"It's because his father's involved with the Dark Arts. Like Lucius'. He doesn't want Muggles at Hogwarts either, and if you needed help finding the platform, that made it pretty clear to him that you're someone he doesn't want at the school."

Lily looked mildly surprised, but replied calmly: "I was talking to Severus, not his father. He shouldn't be held accountable for his father's behavior. And since when are you such an authority on dark wizards?"

"Never you mind, Lily Marie."

My middle name is Rose, for your information, and by the way, now you're the one who sounds like someone's parent."

The prefect led them up and down several staircases and down several corridors before the arrived at Gryffindor Tower. Sirius kept his hand on Lily's shoulder the entire time, guiding her, as though he were afraid another member of Slytherin House were about pounce on her. Neither he nor she looked very happy.

They stopped in front of a portrait of a slightly overweight woman dressed in pink. The prefect turned to them.

"The password's 'Ora nobis pacem,'" he said. "Don't forget it."